Bigs

Im thinkin bout takin a 2 or 3 day excursion down south somewhere for some fishing. This cold windy weather is a bummer. Where would be a good place to go ? I was thinkin florida or texas but its too far. Anywhere in NC, SC, or GA that is still warmish and great fishing ? I might just pack up the expedition, stratos, dogs and my ole lady and vanish for a few. What ya guys think ? Am I crazy ? Wait Thai, dont answer that

I feel ya Thai, Im just goin on what a local guide told me. The fall/winter sun is weak right now and the grass just isnt gettin nearly as much light and less direct sunlight for sure. During the spring and summer you have 11 am till 3 pm for peak sunlight, thats the brightest and warmest part of the day. Right now you dont have that at all. It doesnt get brighter and warmer thruout the early afternoon like it was a few months ago. Im sure what youre sayin is true but theres alot of truth to what Im sayin as well. And ya a few days of low light can affect how plants grow. If it rains and is windy for several days in a row you can get crappy clarity for many days. The wind affects water clarity as much as the rain does. I seen it happen esp in areas with alot of bluffs such as fort washington where those bluffs wash right down into the river when it rains. Mt vernon doesnt have those bluffs and therfore less dirt to wash into the river. Im just using logic here , I'm no expert on the vegetation in the river. I know the colder water has alot to do with it too of course. I think its a combination of factors. Everything you said def makes sense tho.

Bass love clear water esp on the potomac. Stained water isnt nearly as bad as chocolate water tho. Once the water gets dark then the sun stops hittin the grass and it dies. Thats why the places with clearer water right now have greener grass and way more fish. They love the oxygen in the green stuff. I noticed when I took thai to my grassbed at fort washington all the grass was dead and the water was brown. Total waste of time. I only fish the clear and stained stuff. And I know thai said the water was stained out there but infact alot of it was brown also. I'm gonna give belmont bay a try since its a mile or two from leesylvania. Im not gonna keep payin to launch out of pohick when I have an annual pass to lessylvania. It's addin up fast.

oh and another thing, theres a family of mexicans that fishes next to that bridge and they keep everything they catch including a baby striper yesterday. There wasnt much I could do since I was on my boat . We watched them put a striper in their bucket that couldnt have been more then 8-10 inches long. If you guys are fishing from shore there , please be aware of that kinda thing. It really effs up the population and is illegal.

oh and btw, Tammy threw senkos for 2 hours and didnt even get a nibble.

I didnt even try throwin the flukes yesterday , maybe I should have. Are you guys using weights with flukes and if so what weight and what hook ? I had one rigged up weightless, just never threw it. The weekend and monday are gonna be great for fishing, mild temps but more importanly hardly any wind at all. Today is agood day too with winds around 5-7 mph. I cant stand fishing in the wind from my boat, I end up constantly on the trolling motor and I can never stay in one good spot for more then a minute or too without drifting.

sall good, since she's an artist, Im gonna have her custom airbrush some of my other rattle traps to look like the other and paint a bunch of my crankbaits while she's at it. I wish I knew where in mount vernon you caught 9 fish in 2 hours soccplayer, I saw nothing but muddy water when I was there yesterday, I didnt even so much as see a largemouth bass in the 2 hours I was there. Im hopin the water will clear up by today or tommorow so I can try my luck again. What were you catchin them on ?

Its actually a decent fish ski boat , tops out around 55 or so with a 150 on it. But for that kinda money you can get a great used boat. A fish ski less then 20 feet is not a good idea imo. Even my dual console 20 foot bass boat gets awkard sometimes with 3 people in it. You're family is gonna feel cramped when fishing and moving around alot on there. On the other hand if youre gonna do other water sports most of the time then go for it. I still think a bassboat is just as fun but opinions vary. Good luck.

Mattawoman creek ?

Me and my ole lady took the stratos out today but only for about 2 hours. She had to pee the entire time and I was gettin mad annoyed. So all I caught was one 2 pound striper under the bridge on a rattle trap. Then tammy decides she wants to throw one too. So I gave her my sol spinning setup that I was throwin and of course within 5 casts of bangin up my rattle trap on the bridge she broke the lure in half. That was my fave rattle trap too, a moment of silence please :'( The water was chocolate milk and the fish just werent there today. So I ended up takin her back so she could pee, that was my excitement for the day. the end

I wouldnt get either one of'em. But to each their own. I just put my curado e7 up for sale today so I can buy another daiwa fuego. They are on sale at *** for 165 bux. Thats the best baitcaster you can get for that kinda money imo. I already have one and love it. It casts light baits a mile. Its deadly if you throw 1/8 ounce baits esp buzzbaits, perfect reel for it. And its light as a feather.

so youre saying 6k rpm's once I switch props ? Can I run 6k rpm's with the shooter thats on there now ? The one time I have taken the boat out since I bought it I was only running about 56-57k rpms. But I didnt have the motor trimmed up more then halfway according to the gauge. I didnt wanna push my luck my first time out . What do u mean when you say "Those motors like 6,000 rpm at WOT, you don't want to load it. I would turn 6,100 before I would only turn 5,700." Are you saying if I get too big of a pitch that the motor wont turn enough RPM's ? Sorry for the newb questions, Im just learning all this stuff now. So much to learn, so little time.

Im curious tho, do the holes from a jackplate always match the factory holes ? And if not then how do you seal up the old holes ? Is there a good place online that shows pics and or video on how to install a jackplate and prop ? I think Im gonna get an 8 inch manual and a 25 tempest when Im ready which wont be till march. Altho in the meantime I might just send off my shooter prop to get blueprinted and balanced. Im assuming its pointless to get another prop right now without gettin a jackplate. Oh and btw, Im in virginia, my folks have a couple places they built in costa rica right on the beach. I plan on spending some time down there next year to do some salt water fishing. Thanks for all the info.

I wanted to go out yesterday but it was windy and choppy so I did a lil shore fishing instead but caught nothing. Looks like its gonna be 15-20 mph winds today so I'll stay in yet again. Can we get just a couple days in the 60's with wind less then 10 mph ? sheeesh > Thai , you fish yesterday or today ? Any luck ?

tried to send you a PM but it wouldnt work. I'd like to ask you some questions if you have time to answer them sometime. I really wanna know what jackplate and prop to go with if I decide to go that route. Couple other things I wanted to know about too. Maybe I should just make a new thread

Thanks alot, thats exactly the kinda stuff I needed to know. And while it would have been nice to get a 1993+ I didnt wanna spend 10 grand on a boat right now. I paid 5300 for this one and its immaculate. All the mid to late 90's 201's are goin for 9-12 grand all day. Even alot of clean 89-92's are goin for over 7 grand. I looked and looked for a stratos 201 for the last 3 months. I been lookin since early summer but at first had my heart set on a basscat or champion. I'm so glad I didnt waste my money on one. For the money I got a better boat. When I have more money to play with come spring time then I will do the prop, jackplate and maybe even the carbs and intake. For now Im content with goin low 60's with 2 people. I might also consider repowering it with a 250 but it says its rated for 235. How can that be tho ? The boat is long and heavy and should support a 250 all day.

Just remember to put the drain plug in when you go out everytime and also to take it out afterwards Great present for sure. You're blessed to have family like that. Have fun

Nah JVM, I think this guy was white. Kinda trench coat mafia lookin actually Of course I wanted to go out today and missed out. I need to get out tommorow and try and slam'em.

wanted to go out today but my ole lady worked longer then expected . If it doesnt rain tommorow then maybe I'll get lucky. If I didnt still have a slight cough from 2 months of being sick then Id gladly take it out in the rain. My new cover will be here in less then a week so I can get this ghetto tarp off of it I spent an hour dryin it off today with a leaf blower. My neighbors who drove by looked at me like I was a madman ;D good times. Thanks for the compliments.

Thanks, gonna take it out fishing today. The only part that sux is cleanin the hull after being on the river, I found that out first hand on monday. I ordered an outdura boat cover from iboats.com, anyone have experience with outdura material ? It's supposed to be identcial to sunbrella material.

Indeed, its immaculate and Im very picky about cosmetics. I been lookin for a boat since June, took me this long to find one I liked and for 5300 bux it was impossible to beat for the money. I almost spent 10 grand on a few other boats I found that were newer but nowhere near the condition

Thank you, my girlfriend and I were just drooling over your Allison in your fixer upper thread. I wouldnt wanna get into a race for the best spot on the river with you, thats for sure.

Bought my first fiberglass bass boat. Its old but its new to me. 9/10 condition. Got it on craigslist of course ;D 1992 Stratos 201 Pro DC powered by a 200 Johnson GT . The original owner had it till 2007 and never fished one tournament with it. The guy I got it from said he fished about 15 tourneys with it in 07-8 and none this year. So it doesnt look like its been fished hard or even hardly used. Always garage kept since new. No speed demon by todays standards but it powers thru rough water at 62-65 mph with just me in the boat 8-) I rode in several bass boats and this was the first stratos I drove and as soon as I drove it I knew that no other boat would do. I also have a brand new in the box humminbird 798 fully loaded with all the navionics maps and Im bout to throw it on there and she'll be complete. Oh and yes thats original trolling motor, ugly as hell but d**n if it doesnt move that boat qwik. I'll keep using it till it conks out. Other then that I might get a tempest prop to replace the shooter it came with and try and get a few more mph. Just thought I'd share. Anyone else with an older stratos feel free to post a pic . That's all

Didnt look like he was fishing to me. Were you out there that day right next to that lil bridge ? Whoever it was, he wasnt there for more then maybe an hour.

There were actually multiple shady people in that same spot thru out the day. One was the guy in all black in the pic and the other was some guy tryin to get somethin from his girl Appears they tried to find a private spot where no one would see them but we happen to be fishing there. I guess the backseat of a car is no longer the norm, guess Im just old fashioned